Here in Ann Arbor we have a wonderful summer festival called Top of the Park. Every night for three weeks in a row (!) there is live music until it gets dark. Then they raise a big movie screen and show a movie like The Wizard of Oz. And it’s all completely free, and everyone comes down and mills around and runs into old friends and gets some food and enjoys the music. And tonight on the “Grassrootz Stage” guess who played their first gig? Rock Band 101!
Here they are, six 12yos (the keyboardist didn’t make it into the picture), with their teacher introducing them. They played one song: “You Really Got Me” by The Kinks. And they rocked! Joey broke a drumstick halfway through but managed to keep playing and did an impressive fill (yeah, I know all the drummer jargon now; just ask me what a paradiddle is!) at the very end.
Here’s a close up of our rock star.
A lot of our friends and family showed up, and even those who are not exactly die-hard rock ‘n roll fans (hi, Dad!) seemed to enjoy themselves. It was extremely gratifying!
The younger set had a great time, too. Here are Daniel and Lena with our pals Simon (blue shirt) and Basil (curly hair). Who doesn’t love a fountain? On a warm June evening?
14 Comments
Oh my gosh, that really brings back memories–Top of the Park. Some things seem different though–a fountain? And what is that building behind the rock band? Is Top of the Park on top of the parking lot still?
Wish we could have seen this and Joey perform! Colin (7 years old) has been very interested in drumming lessons, by the way. Hubby says that there is a drum store right next door to Daimy’s new dance school, so it looks like the inevitable is going to happen….
What a great experience for the band!
Val — yes, it’s different. Top of the Park used to be held on top of the Fletcher Street parking structure (hence its name). A year or two ago they had to find a new spot, temporarily, because of some construction work. They moved over to Washington Street, in front of the Rackham building, which is what you see behind the band. That area used to be a street running between Washington & North U (maybe before your time), and it’s filled in with grass, sidewalks, and the fountain; it’s lovely. The move was supposed to be temporary but everyone liked it so much better there, they decided to stay. I wish you could have seen it too. One of these days we have to get a video camera!
Myrthe, indeed! Other kids have recitals; these guys got to play a “gig.” :)
Oh my gosh! I wish I would have known. We have not made it down to top of the park this year. AWESOME!
Ah, Top of the Park. The absolute best place to see Blues Brothers. I wish I could have heard them play…. you really do need to get (at least) a digital camera that does movies… :)
Before you know it, your rock star will be another Neal Peart! Love your new look, BTW!
I can hardly wait to buy their first CD! Or, maybe we’ll only have downloads by then?
Wow, and congratulations to the rock-mom! So good to see pics of all three of yours in one post. That fountain looks like a lot of fun. Sadly in Aus, public fountains are strictly for looking at. You get in trouble if you play in them.
Terri, darn it. I should have been better about letting people know. We didn’t even know about the gig ourselves until just a few days before.
Chartroose, ha ha! He prefers to think of himself as the next Keith Moon, actually. I’m trying to lead him more in the direction of Levon Helm but he’s not interested.
Fred, I think he’s already working on designing the CD cover. His band doesn’t even have a name yet, though, so it’s kind of tricky.
Crit, thanks. I don’t know if there are rules about this particular fountain; it’s on the university campus. Actually, I wish there was a rule because it makes me a bit nervous when the kids do that. I can’t imagine the water is very clean, either.
oh, i love this!!! rock on!!
Thanks for your comment on my review of A Bottle in the Gaza Sea, and yes I would be interested in the book you read to your kids, I am going to be homeschooling out boys, and although they are too young yet…my greatest desire is that they be completely aware of the world around them and the sufferings and joys around the world. Thanks so much!!!
ps I love the rockers!! so awesome!
Bethany, yeah, rock on! I did find the book — I left the info in a comment on your original post. Enjoy!
Keith Moon? What a role model. He started working on the accent first, as I recall, and the drumming came later.
Too bad “This is Spinal Tap” is rated R. Joey might find a more suitable hero among the band’s succession of drummers. On the other hand Wikipedia points out that, “Spinal Tap has had a succession of drummers, all of whom they claim have died under odd circumstances: one in a “bizarre gardening accident”; another “choked on vomit,” (although it was never determined whose vomit it was, as “you can’t really dust for vomit”), and a third from apparent spontaneous human combustion onstage, leaving a small green “globule” on his drum throne.”
Sara, good one. Actually, I’m embarrassed to say, he has already seen This is Spinal Tap. I don’t mind him wanting to emulate Keith Moon as long as it’s just the drumming style, and not the life style. :-P
This is so cool! If they play again, let me know and I’ll come here them! I love to see kids playing around with music :)